Stars, politicians and power shift

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Singer Na Hoon-a mocked Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung during his concert named, “Again Brother Tes,” held in the southeastern city of Daegu last Friday.

“I know someone said something about my pants. I don't remember exactly what he said about them. But I wonder if he knows that my pants are a lot more expensive than his,” he said in front of the 4,000 people in the audience, seated in a local stadium in accordance with the current social distancing requirements for large events. His fans giggled.

The veteran singer stopped short of naming the person he was referring to, but everyone there knew who he was talking about.

The reference to pants comes from a TV debate on July 5th when the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential hopefuls sat down together to present their views on political, social and economic issues, as well as their visions for the nation, ahead of the party's primary to select its candidate for the presidential race.

Former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun was aggressive, urging Gyeonggi Governor Lee to clarify whether the rumors about his alleged affair with actress Kim Bu-seon are actually true. Chung went on to argue that ethics matters for presidential candidates.

Disturbed by his questions, Lee reacted exasperatedly, “Do you want me to drop my pants again?”

Lee has been in a legal battle with the actress. Kim claims that the governor defamed her by calling her pathetic and alleging that she exaggerated their relationship in order to get public attention. To back her claim that she was in an affair with Lee, the actress mentioned a physical trait of Lee that people who are not intimate with him would likely not know about. Denying the actress' claim, Lee submitted a medical checkup report issued by Ajou University Hospital to the court. Their legal fight is still underway.

Lee's reference to dropping his trousers again indicates that he is ready to do whatever it takes to prove his innocence.

Governor Lee indeed borrowed the tactic from Na, when the singer did the same back in 2008 to calm down rampant rumors about one of his body parts. In a nationally televised press conference, the grim-faced, fierce Na “declared” that if the spectators who had gathered at that hotel in Seoul didn't believe what he said, he was willing to pull down his pants in front of them to show them that the rumors about him are groundless.

A scene like this, with a singer calling out a presidential hopeful ― who has solid support from voters and might become the next president ― for his reckless demeanor, would have been unthinkable in this country a couple of decades ago.

I think that defiant singer Na's public reference to Governor Lee is an example of how stars have become vocal. The singer's boldness, in turn, hints at a shift of power from politics to other areas, including entertainment. Unlike in the past, thanks to the meteoric rise of K-pop in the global music scene, the status of musicians has risen in general in Korean society, and singers like Na consider themselves equal to (or sometimes better than) politicians.

In Korea, politics had long been significantly more powerful than any other area.

During the authoritarian Chun Doo-hwan regime, actor Park Yong-sik was banned from appearing on TV for years, simply because he looked like Chun. Park was only able to resume his acting career after Chun left office. He continued to appear on TV until dying from a sepsis-like condition in 2013.

There are other scattered anecdotal stories about celebrities who were victimized in cases of political retaliation for various reasons. Some were banned because they were critical of certain prominent politicians and others suffered from their careers being cut short after they endorsed presidential candidates who lost their elections.

Although there are still celebrities who claim that their careers were negatively affected because they were critical of the ruling camp at that time, the dominance of politics in the contemporary balance of power seems to be not as distinct as it used to be in the past. While politicians remained locked in partisan struggles for decades, other areas, such as entertainment and business, have outgrown politics, causing politicians to see their influence shrink.

Politicians' influence is local, limited only to people of certain regions, as seen in the southeast-southwest regional divide prevalent in Korea's election results. But K-pop musicians exert influence globally. Politicians' popularity is short-lived, as we've seen in public opinion surveys of presidents or other elective politicians, and they are forgotten once they leave office.

But some stars and their works enjoy lasting popularity, as seen in certain hit movies or songs that are remembered for generations.

In short, power seems to be shifting from politics to other, potentially more productive areas that contribute to the prosperity and recognition of this country in often more visible and quantifiable ways. I believe that the speed of this power shift will be faster than ever before, as long as politicians waste their time only in partisan politics. This situation has important implications for politicians: try to be constructive, or your days in politics may be limited.

Kang Hyun-kyung (hkang@koreatimes.co.kr

) is culture editor of The Korea Times.